Alain Stettler and Philippe Seguret win the 2026 La Translémanique en Solitaire
by Translémanique en Solitaire 30 Aug 14:59 BST
28-30 August 2026
Alain Stettler, the overall winner of the 2026 Translémanique en Solitaire, believes that his main asset is the simplicity and ease of use of his sailboat, a Melges 24 © EP Medias
The 53rd edition of the Translémanique en Solitaire lived up to all its promises and delivered a high-quality, intense regatta, contested until the last second, full of twists and turns.
After a start in very light conditions, the westerly wind gradually picked up, reaching 25 knots and allowing the fleet to make good speed towards Le Bouveret. The return leg then benefited from a light southwesterly wind, which was replaced during the evening by nighttime thermal breezes.
Already a winner last year, Alain Stettler of the Thunersee Yacht Club confirmed his mastery of Lake Geneva by once again securing a convincing victory at the helm of his Melges 24. Thirteenth at the halfway point, he ultimately finished fourteenth overall, 1 hour and 22 minutes behind Philippe Seguret, the winner in real time. This narrow margin after 16 hours and 38 minutes of racing earned him the Tuiga Challenge, awarded to the winner in corrected time and intended to celebrate the best performances regardless of the size and price of the boats.
"I'm very happy with this new victory, " said the winner. " For me, it's a real adventure to come and race on Lake Geneva. You have to transport the boat by road, then discover this lake... I've always dreamed of competing in the Translémanique en Solitaire; it was on my bucket list. We don't have anything like it on Lake Thun. "
Alain Stettler attributes his victory to the simplicity of his sailboat. " It's an easy boat: I only have a jib and a spinnaker; there's never any hesitation about the equipment. Around me, I saw competitors changing sails, switching from symmetrical to asymmetrical, and they were often in great difficulty when the wind blew strongly. "
Alain Stettler is relatively new to Lake Geneva, but he's a very experienced sailor, with two pre-Olympic campaigns in the 470 class, international events in Melges 24s, match racing, and Swiss Sailing League races under his belt. " I'm happy to have won on corrected time," he concluded. " But what I prefer is real time. For that, someone would have to lend me a Psaros 33... "
The Psaros 33s, in particular, dominated the race, securing the top six positions in the real-time rankings. The winner, Philippe Seguret, skipper of Pro Yachting Nivose, crossed the finish line at 12:46:15 a.m. He finished ahead of Luc Munier on Carpediem Cube by 3 minutes and 43 seconds, and Nicolas Baudu on Eole 7 by 9 minutes and 34 seconds.
"I'm very happy, it was a superb race," he said. " The descent towards Le Bouveret was really intense; I nosedived several times and took on quite a bit of water... On the way back, I kept an eye on my closest competitor, Eole 7. But at the end of the race, I had a real scare when Luc Munier suddenly appeared right next to the coast. He almost overtook me, but I just crossed the finish line ahead of him."
Finishing second for the second year running, Luc Munier was delighted with the tactical maneuver that allowed him to snatch second place from Nicolas Baudu, right in front of his home in La Belotte. "It's true that I know the area well," he confirmed. But the most exhilarating moment of the race was clearly the downwind leg to Le Bouveret. "It was magnificent, and really intense. At one point, the wind was blowing at 25 knots, and I decided to take down the spinnaker; I realized I wasn't twenty anymore... Then, the passage through Le Bouveret turned out to be exactly as usual, which is to say, completely unpredictable."
Yet it was precisely there that the regatta was decided. Alexandre de Weck, the skipper of Katana, was then far ahead, but he remained stuck in a windless patch for a long time, just a few cables from the buoy, watching his rivals pass by one after another. When he finally caught some wind and rounded the mark, his competitors had already left the race behind.
Fierce battles took place at all levels of the fleet, and in all categories. The most popular class, and probably also the most hotly contested, the Surprise class, was won by Marius Lanz ahead of Arnaud Machado and Renaud Stitelmann.
Olivier de Cocatrix, on Magicopapacarlo, won the TCF2 class while Christian Monachon, on his 6.5 SI Ondine, won the TCF 4 class. Finally, Charlotte Frei, on her 6.5 SI Gwinn Gwenn, won the Ella Maillart Challenge awarded to the first woman with corrected time.
Full results and more information at translemanique.ch